A University of Guam entomologist studying the Coconut Rhino Beetle for years revealing that the pests arrived on Saipan before Guam. He says Hawaii's battle with the insect may have also started from Guam. Officials there say they've lost the battle.

The Coconut Rhino Beetle reached the Marianas earlier than most might know.

Dr. Aubrey Moore, a professor of entomology at the University of Guam, told KUAM News, "It's actually been detected twice on Saipan. It both cases it was totally destroyed and did not persist which is really good for Saipan."

He said the first incident was in 2006, a full year before the insect was detected on Guam. A beetle was found flying around a cement factory, but they were able to catch it. And in 2017, more rhino beetles were found by Customs and Quarantine in packaged soil from Guam sent to the CNMI - they were trapped within its plastic wrapping and they found larvae in the packaged soil. After surveys for each incident, they believe there was no spread.

"Saipan's been very very lucky," Dr. Moore added. But the infestation continues to grow on Guam and Rota, as he noted, "The chances of rhino beetle getting to other islands in Micronesia and even elsewhere is very high. We have a lot of transport between Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. And also between Guam and Hawaii. Hawaii also got the rhino beetle mostly probably from Guam. And they got it in 2013."

In January, Hawaii's CRB Task Force says it has lost the battle to eradicate the pests on Oahu and now turns its focus to containment. "Most probably the adults get around by hiding out. We call them hitchhikers. They are not associated with any particular commodity or product so it is very very hard for those inspectors to find those beetles," he said.

He says female beetles also tend to lay their eggs in soil products, which are typically stored outside.

"Guam actually has a local regulation which prohibits import of soil from anywhere without a permit but it does not seem to be enforced," he said.

With the ongoing threat to the island's "tree of life," Moore says destroying breeding sites is critical. But he admits, eradication on Guam is unlikely.

"Our best bet is called biological control, that is when you find out what is controlling the population where the insect came from, where it is native, and very often it is another insect, it might be a predator or a parasite, or it might be a disease of the insect. In the case of the rhino beetle, there have been two diseases which have been effective," he said.

He says they've tried it on Guam, but it failed early on because CRB on Guam, and those also found in other islands, are genetically different. They've been searching for a virus that could work since then.

"So it is not just a Guam problem," he stressed. "It is a Pacific-wide problem."